Act 24: The Sky is Falling...
by The Admiral
Summary: Sorry I couldn't come up with a better name. :( My first reader-aided fic!
1. Default Chapter

I'm starting to get sick of saying this, but....  
  
I don't own Big O  
  
I don't own the characters  
  
I am not making money  
  
Lawyers, begone!  
  
  
  
  
Act 24: The Sky is Falling...  
  
  
Roger Smith awoke. That in itself was odd enough, because his new android body suposedley did not need to sleep. He had asked David's technicians to program that in, however, to make him feel he had not lost his humanity. Dorothy had mad a similar request, mainly because of her feelings for him, but partly because of her own desire to be more human than android, as he was. So, with the need for sleep merely simulated, he awoke.  
  
The second odd thing about his waking was the unusual warmth lying next to him. A pleasant memory of the night before drifted lazily through his head. Dorothy was still sound 'asleep,' and he got out of bed gently, so as not to 'wake' her. He put on a bathrobe and stepped out onto the balcony.  
  
Since he was in a city where most of the people could fly, the balcony was there primarily to facilitate landings and take-offs, but he had moved some of the indoor furniture out onto it for comfort. One thing to enjoy about the City of Angels; the sound of constant traffic was nonexistent, as was the slightly brown air that acommpanied roadways in Paradigm. He stood at the balcony's edge, watching the sunrise between two of the ivory towers that made up the city.  
  
Dorothy came out to join him a few moments later. "Enjoying the view?" She put an arm around him and leaned her head on his shoulder.  
  
"That, among other things."  
  
"What sort of other things?"  
  
Roger gently stroked one of her stray hairs. "Mainly what I'm going to do now. This city has almost no crime, so most of my skills as negotiator are useless. Big O is still in the repair bay, and there's no guarantee I'll need to pilot him again." He gazed up at a lone figure, winging its way from tower to tower. "I'm just not sure what they want me here for."  
  
"You know how to pilot Big O better than any of them, Roger. If this city has need of him, you are the person to call. That makes you invaluable to them." She looked up at him, mischief in her eyes. "And if you've run out of things to do in your spare time, I have a few suggestions."  
  
He chuckled. "Not this morning, dearest. David and Angel have a few things they wanted to talk about, and if I don't get moving soon I'll be late."  
  
Dorothy feigned astonishment. "Roger Smith, such a dirty mind! I was going to try and teach you to play the piano."  
  
Roger looked down at her in genuine surprise. "You think I'd have the patience for it? And you think you can talk me into believing it's a good idea?"  
  
"I have the feeling I can talk you into anything I want, Mr. Negotiator."  
  
  
"Ah, Roger, there you are! I was starting to get worried." David stepped around the desk. "Follow me, we're going downstairs. To the Hangar." The Hangar had been built to house both Big O and Big Duo, and had repair & maintenance facilities for both.  
  
"Where's Angel? I thought she was coming."  
  
"She had a few errands to run, said she'd be along in about thirty minutes. Come on, I want to show you some of the new toys we've cooked up for you." 


	2. Part Two

I'm starting to get sick of saying this, but....  
  
I don't own Big O  
  
I don't own the characters  
  
I am not making money  
  
Lawyers, begone!  
  
  
  
  
"Ah, there you are. I was starting to wonder." David rose from behind the desk as Roger came in the door. "Follow me, we're going down to the Hangar."  
  
"Where's Angel? She said she wanted to come with us."  
  
"A last-minute errand popped up. She said she'd catch up to us in a few minutes."  
  
The Hangar was simply that: a cavernous, underground hangar facility built to house and maintain Big O and Big Duo. Gantries of all shapes and sizes criss-crossed the two Megadeuces, with technicians swarming about them. Big O was undergoing serious maintenance work; half of his armor had been removed so the mechanics could get inside.  
  
"Ah, Master Roger, I assume you've come to take a look at the modifications?" Norman turned to greet them, holding a checklist.  
  
Roger smiled at his ex-butler-turned-mechanic. "How are things coming?"  
  
"I would say they're coming along very well, sir. We've doubled the armor for several areas, added targeting and tracking systems for the missiles, and increased the power capacity by half again. Not to mention the teleportation system--"  
  
"Teleportation? You mean instantly moving from one spot to another? I thought that technology was lost forty years ago."  
  
Norman shook his head. "Only in Paradigm, Master Roger. As Master David has pointed out, the people in the City of Angels only partially lost their memories. Many retained considerable knowledge, and this technology was among that."  
  
"I see. But why are we putting it on Big O?"  
  
David spoke up. "That tunnel system you used to get around in Paradigm was very convinient, but we don't have anything like that here. This is the only way we can get your Megadeuce to you at a moment's notice."  
  
"Ah. So he'll arrive at my exact location?"  
  
David grinned. "Not quite. We've got it set up so that he'll arrive just below you, and burst out of the ground just like it did when you were still using the tunnels. We've also thought about giving Big O flight capability, but that would require extensive and time-consuming reconstruction, and--" A klaxon cut him off.  
  
Roger looked around for the source of the alarm. "Now what?"  
  
David frowned. "I don't know. Let's find out." He led them to a command station. The operator there showed them the local radar screens.  
  
"We just detected a large, unidentified aircraft at extreme range. It's not headed straight for us, but the way it's flying suggests damage." She looked up at them. "I'd bet it'll come down not far from here."  
  
Roger looked out at Big O, partially dissasembeled, then looked at Big Duo, fully prepped and ready to fly.  
  
"Do you think Angel would really mind?" 


	3. Part Three

I'm starting to get sick of saying this, but....  
  
I don't own Big O  
  
I don't own the characters  
  
I am not making money  
  
Lawyers, begone!  
  
  
  
  
It was big. Much bigger than Big Duo. Black, with two swept-back wings, a large, rectangular fueselage, and two tail assembelies extending backwards. It was trailing a line of black, oily smoke from one of the low-slung engines, and the pilot was having trouble keeping it on a straight line.  
  
When Roger caught up with it, the aircraft was less then a quarter-mile from the ground, and still descending. He brought Big Duo up alongside.  
  
As soon as he could see the cockpit, and, presumably, as soon as the pilot could see him, the whole jet swerved drunkenly to the left, away from Big Duo. Roger, puzzled, fell back a little and came up under the thing. He braced Big Duo's hands on a structural girder and tried to check the thing's plummet. The massive aircraft barely reacted.  
  
The ground was dangerously close now. Roger let go and moved to a safe distance as the jet began plowing down trees. It jumped a rocky ledge, throwing up huge amounts of dirt and plantlife. After digging a mile-long trench, the jet finally came to rest.  
  
Roger circled once, to be sure it wouldn't explode or something, then landed Big Duo nearby. He climbed out and approached the downed vehicle.  
  
Just by his eye alone, he judged the main body more than capable of carrying Big O and Big Duo side by side. What massive cargo could it--  
  
No, couldn't be. An aircraft to carry Megadeuces? The thought had popped unbidden into his head, and now refused to leave. It looked more than capable of it...  
  
He spotted something that might pass as a hatchway some ways down the length. It was firmly shut, but had apparently not been designed to keep out someone with the strength of an android.  
  
Inside, the ship was pitch black. 'I'll bet they lost power in the landing.' He pulled out a flashlight and looked around. A hallway led off in both directions. Arbitrarily, he followed it forward.  
  
Roger passed several side doorways before coming to a bend in the hall. Another side passage had the word 'Cockpit' scribbled in hasty handwriting on the wall. There was no doorknob, but a keypad on the wall nearby. He pressed a few random buttons, but nothing happened.  
  
"I'll have to do this the hard way, then." He gripped the door on the edge and slowly pulled it aside, metal screeching against metal the whole way.  
  
When he finally stepped into the cockpit, he found four chairs facing several banks of indecipheralbe controls. He thought it was empty until he heard a groan. A young woman was slouched in the front right chair, her skin almost as black as the hull of the jet itself. She was unconcious, but alive. Roger picked her up and carried her back to Big Duo...  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
  
  
  
This one was a tad bit longer than I had anticipated, so I'm breaking it into two episodes. By the way, I remember somebody saying that Roger's car was Griffon instead of Gryphon. The two words are pronouced exactly the same, and used interchangebly. I simply felt that Gryphon was used less often, and therefore a more likely choice for Roger. Thanks for the feedback! 


End file.
